A Sampling of Best-Selling Exhibition Catalogues from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

There’s nothing better than the experience of visiting Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, but it’s as disappointing when it’s time to leave as it is gratifying and enriching when you’re here.

While you can’t bring our priceless pieces home with you, you can bring home some of the following best-selling exhibition catalogues from MFA Boston.

Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories Exhibition Catalogue

Our Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories exhibition catalogue contains 58 pieces of textile art that span culture and history. The highlights in the catalogue tell the personal narratives of their makers.

They tell tales of marginalization, immigration, memory, trade, culture and cultural expansion, and more. They are carefully curated and pieces selected span a period covering more then 400 years.

Artists such as Harriet Powers, Faith Ringgold, Harry Tyler, Edward Larson, Molly Upton and Virginia Jacobs, among many others are included in the catalogue, which would be a great gift for anyone with a unique interest in this special medium.

Hokusai Inspiration and Influence

Katsushika Hokusai may have been a painter and book illustrator, but it is as a print maker that most of us recognize his genius and influence.

Immortal works like “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” and “Under the Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa” echo down to us through the ages, and are preserved in this exhibition catalogue.

This particular Hokusai Inspiration and Influence catalogue takes a unique view on his work, adopting the impressions of other artists who learned from him and applied those lessons to their own work.

Fashioned by Sargent

John Singer Sargent’s portraits are ageless, but something about his mode was a bit unique: he often chose what his sitters would wear, and even when they came to him arrayed in the latest fashions, he would simplify or utterly change what they were wearing - or just ignore select details in his paintings according to his fancy.

This catalogue, Fashioned by Sargent, juxtaposes Sargent’s work alongside costumes of his period (some of which were actually worn by his sitters) and explores the intricate relationship between art, fashion, and its portrayal in art, as told by leading scholars who delve into the intricacies of gender expression, cultural and political progress, and the general allure of novel ideas.

Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation Exhibition Catalogue

The period from the 1960s to the 1980s was one of turbulence and social upheaval, explored in this exhibition catalogue through the lenses of those responsible for the rise of graffiti as artistic medium, particularly in urban environments.

Writing the Future is a snapshot of one of our major exhibitions and both captures and contextualizes Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work, alongside several of his contemporaries, such as ERO and Ketih Haring, who pioneered the hip-hop movement in art, and into the future.

Monet: Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Exhibition Catalogue

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is home to one of the largest collections of Monet art outside of France, and this exhibition catalogue captures all 35 oil paintings from our collection (spanning nearly the entirety of his professional career) in full-page reproductions.

Monet: Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, introduces these works and provides an exposition on his life and work. A stunning homage to the artist himself, this catalogue would make a lovely gift for any fans of his work, or anyone with a general appreciation for Impressionism.

Cy Twombly: Making Past Present

Edward, better known as “Cy,” Twombly, has become known chiefly for his expressive use of mark-making and his interpretive reiterations of ancient works. His abstract compositions, many of which are paintings on canvas, marked paper and small sculptures, belie a lifelong interest in intrigues dredged up from the past.

Through his indubitably modern lens, he has distilled the spirit of the ancient past, often in vivid color and abstract detail, with many of his subjects being themselves the art and architecture of classical antiquity, particularly Greece and Rome.

Cy Twombly: Making Past Present, reproduces more than 50 of his paintings, drawings, and sculptures, and is augmented with essays from leading scholars who meticulously explore his possession by, and inspiration through, the past.

Real Photo Postcards: Pictures from a Changing Nation

In 1903, Kodak introduced a camera that enabled users to take a picture and print a postcard in real time, making it possible to capture snapshots of life far and abroad, in an era that long predated modern smartphones and social media, let alone the internet.

Real Photo Postcards: Pictures from a Changing Nation captures these moments, stills of real life which have come to be known as “real photo postcards,” representing a slice of life of individuals from the past whose interests, hopes, and stories were every bit as vibrant as our own.

Art Prints from Your Favorite Artists, Perfect for Your Home

While these exhibition catalogues represent a unique way to bring a little piece of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, home with you, another great way to tip your hat to your favorite collections is with one of the fine art prints from our online gift shop.

We carry museum art prints reproduced from many of the highlights in our exhibitions, with a plethora of Gerrit Dou, Hopper, Hassam, Hokusai, and Monet prints in the collection, among countless others.

Like the catalogues covered heere, these also make great gifts for fine art enthusiasts. Peruse our collection and bring something home for yourself (or a loved one) today.